With Intensity
by SirForgotAlot
Summary: When an old enemy poses a new threat, Rin sees a side of her lord she's never seen before. In light of these new developments, boundaries will be tested and a demon lord will prove just how far he's willing to go to protect what's his.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Ta-da! Here it is: the start of that new story **with** **chapters** that I've been promising. Let me know what you think, please. Should I continue or is it a dud?_

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><p><strong>With Intensity<strong>

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><p><strong>chapter 1<strong>

Life and new beginnings.

The creation of new life is a miracle, indeed. That's what Kaede would say.

_Would've _said. Had she still been alive.

Rin did not disagree. It's just that -with the new babe's warm, solid weight in her arms and its (_his_, her mind corrected) miniscule ears flicking placidly atop his head- she did not have words so eloquent or readily disposed. So, instead, she clutched it tighter into her bosom and smiled a brilliant smile.

"Oi, don't squish him!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome chided, still sweaty and weak from having given birth. "Don't be so melodramatic."

"Keh."

But there was no weight behind his dismissal so Rin was not offended.

"What will you call him?" she asked politely.

"I dunno," Kagome answered, sitting straighter on her soiled futon. "I was thinking (she gave a sly wink) Sesshoma-"

"Fuck _that_!"

"Sit, boy."

There was a sound like a small explosion, during which, Inuyasha's face met the floor's rough wooden planks, the babe twitched and began to cry, and Rin tried to withstand the moment without giggling.

"Ah, now look what you've done! You woke our son! Sit!"

"May I hold him now?"

Rin jumped. Sango was so quiet sometimes that she forgot the older girl was there. Kirara abandoned her master's shoulder and took up point by her leg.

She wondered fleetingly if her lord would come to visit, given the special occasion, but soon dismissed the thought entirely. Of course he wouldn't. Celebrations were not his scene, even despite his and Inuyasha's tense history. Watching Sango coo and fawn over Kagome's baby, however, had Rin wondering about more strange things. It was Inuyasha and Kagome's first child, but Sango and Miroku already had four of their own. Though she did not envy them, the fact nonetheless draped a veil of forlorn over the otherwise happy scene...

Would Lord Sesshomaru ever have children?

Rin couldn't imagine such a thing -for it would surely be a grand event- happening within her lifetime, but perhaps one day he would take a pretty demoness for a wife and have young with her. That thought, too, brought sadness for altogether _different _reasons.

Soon enough, Rin found that she could not stay in the quaint little hut that was now her own and escaped into the fresh breeze outside.

When her thoughts grew turbulent, a changed environment was a remarkable remedy. Kaede had taught her that, as well.

She ascended the many steps that led to Kikyo's rebuilt monument, and -at the top- she spread out her arms. The fingertips of her left hand hovered over the ruts in the road that led away from the village. Her right spanned the glassy surface of the rice fields just before the land devolved into forest and brambles. With her arms outstretched like this, it was easy to imagine she held the entire village within one giant hug. Safe, protected...

"Rin."

She jumped even worse than when Sango had startled her earlier.

But -then again- Lord Sesshomaru was much, _much _stealthier than the demon slayer.

"My lord!" she spun on her heel, excited.

He quickly grabbed her arm which was still outstretched and guided her toward him.

"Do not stand so close to the edge."

"Yes, my lord."

She followed the direction of his caution until she had twined his arm around her in a hug. He stiffened for but a moment before allowing her to continue. She sniffed him discreetly (an odd gesture that she was glad to have picked up from Inuyasha) and relaxed further into his scent of fresh linens and clean animal fur.

"I did not expect to see you today, my lord. Have you come to see the baby?"

She nuzzled the bit of haori above his fanged armor with her forehead before looking up to confirm the answer that she already knew.

His eyes were as cool as always when he regarded her, and she stepped back.

"No," he said, turning in the direction of Inuyasha's Forest.

Rin followed.

"He's such a cute thing. His ears are like your brother's, my lord!"

He ignored her as she gushed but didn't ask her to stop. So she continued down to every last detail.

"I was afraid for Kagome-chan," she confided later on. "I've never seen so much blood before, Sesshomaru-sama. I thought she might...but she didn't, thank kami."

When they'd passed both the Goshinboku and the well, Rin turned around and noticed something.

"My lord, where is Master Jaken and AhUn?"

He was silent for many long seconds. So long, in fact, that she thought he might not answer.

"They are away, Rin."

It was admittedly cryptic and slightly unsettling, but she did not question him further.

"Are we going somewhere, my lord?"

He turned then, and she almost pulled a Jaken -smacking into him headlong- but caught herself a hair's breadth from his chest.

"My lord?" she asked, stunned. "Are you...okay?"

"Rin," his fingers reached out and caught a strand of her hair, which was black like ichor against his pale skin. "You..."

"Yes?"

He dropped the strand, caught himself, and looked away at some point over her shoulder.

"My lord," she grabbed the flowing sleeve of his haori and tugged. "Please, what is wrong?"

It got him to look at her again, but his expression was pained.

Abruptly -even considering the demon- Sesshomaru turned and began a series of long, determined strides.

"Lord Sesshomaru, wait!"

She called after him when he'd disappeared from her sight, but he didn't return.

Rin contemplated setting up camp in the forest that night (just in case her lord would suddenly return and spew his feelings in an uncharacteristic rant) but ultimately decided against it.

The village was warm, rid of monsters, and home to a newborn who might -at some point- require her scant medicinal knowledge.

** -=}****{=-**

Inuyasha curled his lip.

The bastard had been by the village at some point that day. He could smell him all over Rin.

Kagome knew her husband's many varied expressions well enough to know what this one meant.

"You mean he didn't even stop by and say hello?" she teased.

"Feh, that degenerate won't get within ten feet of our baby. Not if I can help it. Besides, he came to see her," he jabbed his thumb across at Rin, who seemed preoccupied with her own thoughts.

"What's the matter, Rin? You look worried," Kagome said.

"It's nothing, just...Lord Sesshomaru acted strange today when I saw him."

"Maybe he's dying," Inuyasha said, eyes hopeful.

Kagome prodded him hard in the ribs and narrowed her eyes. "Don't make me say _'it'_."

His ears flattened, and he left the hut in a cacophony of muttered curses.

"What do you mean by strange, Rin?"

"He just...I dunno," she grabbed either forearm beneath the rough fabric of her miko sleeves (also a habit gained from Inuyasha) and turned toward the window. "He wouldn't tell me where Jaken and AhUn were, and then when he left, he did so in a hurry. I've never seen him look so troubled before."

"Troubled," Kagome frowned. "Hmm."

This was news, indeed, for she'd never seen the demon lord look anything other than totally detached and apathetic.

"Perhaps things are tense in the Western Lands. Maybe there's a war approaching."

Rin considered this. She did not want to tell the other girl that she'd never seen her lord so much as flinch in the face of a battle, much less give such a thing enough power to crinkle his brow. No, she decided silently, the truth must be something much, much worse...

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><p><em>Hm, wonder what's troubling Sesshy...To be continued?<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _I will apologize in advance for the short chapter, but I promised several of you a quick update and I don't like breaking promises. The next chapter will be longer. Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>chapter 2<strong>

When next her lord visited, the season had changed entirely.

The sun stayed out longer, and the nights were no longer so cold. The grass was back to being a healthy, verdant mass plush beneath her bare feet. Its blades tickled the skin between her toes. Rin had went outside to enjoy the new weather and to maybe pluck wildflowers for her simple home. She had not been expecting him, and -once again- he took her by surprise.

She had her eyes closed against the sunlight, her face angled toward the heavens, and held one bundle of wildflowers in a loose fist by her side.

When she opened them again, it was because a shadow had fallen across her eyelids and blocked out the orange glow. Also, the lack of warmth made her body shiver.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" she dropped the flowers, and -in an uncharacteristic gesture- he stooped to return them to her.

She ignored them, and hugged him instead before the memory of their last meeting had the chance to haunt her. This time, he did not step away for a long while.

Maybe it was the moment's magic, but her lord also seemed happy. The wind strummed his silver hair, its strands basking in sunlight.

"Rin," he said, "how do you fare?"

"I am well, my lord."

His golden eyes remained passive, but she thought he might've been studying her for signs of dishonesty. Finding none, he placed his hand in the space between his breastplate and haori and withdrew it to produce a strand of jade beads.

Though she was struck by its beauty, it took her a minute to realize it was a necklace.

"This is for you."

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, it's beautiful!"

She took the fine jewelry with all the grace she'd used to hold Kagome-chan's baby, stretched the strand, and tied it behind her neck. The demon noticed how the beads complimented the color of her tan skin and turned to retreat to her hut.

"My lord, might we take a walk today, please? The weather here is so nice."

"As you wish, Rin."

They started toward the stone steps that led to Kikyo's monument, made it to the top, and proceeded into Inuyasha's Forest without a word.

The hum of the forest was something both familiar and humbling. When Rin was fully enveloped by the canopy of leaves overhead, her lord spoke with his tone low and even.

"It is time that I should take you with me. To the West."

Rin paused mid-step, but the demon continued farther ahead without notice.

"My lord?"

"Times are turbulent. Edo may soon come under attack."

"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin breathed shakily. "We must tell Inuyasha so that he can protect the village."

"_Inuyasha_," she heard the name leave her lord's mouth like a curse. "My brother is a fool. The enemy at hand is far greater than the feeble capability of any hanyou."

Rin retreated a step; the bitterness in his voice bade her do so. "Then, _I _will return and warn him."

Sesshomaru turned to regard her. There was a fierce light like loyalty that made her eyes shine even under the tree's thick shade.

"You will risk your life for a futile cause rather than go with me?"

"Sesshomaru-sama, please don't make me choose."

"Five minutes."

He turned his back on her again, and Rin took flight. She ran so fast that she didn't consciously think as she leaped the stone steps two and three at a time. Though her sides ached and her lungs burned, still she ran. She had to make it to Inuyasha's house! Images of the baby kept running through her mind as it raced along with her sore, bare feet.

Unfortunately, she was only human.

And therefore, too late.

**-=}{=-**

They wore the armor of men from the continent. The braided leather breastplates, the curvature of their swords...

All of it was foreign.

Yet they were many.

Rin realized she was too late. Edo was being ambushed.

"You there! Come here!" the soldier's Japanese was jagged but understandable.

She complied easily and came to stand before him with her hands raised.

She looked for Inuyasha and Kagome in the crowd behind the soldiers, but with the continual shift and flow as people panicked and tried to flee, it was a hopeless task. She wondered if -desperately hoped- they were okay, hidden away with their baby somewhere.

"Priestess," the man had moved closer and was thumbing the rough material of her garments.

Rin wanted to scream, wanted to explain to these terrorists that she was no more an accomplished priestess than Miroku was a chaste monk, but she doubted if they would understand. Much less listen.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she muttered quietly.

The man narrowed his squinty eyes and began to focus on the new necklace she wore. Immediately, she moved her hands to take the jade beads off. She felt like she was betraying her lord in so doing, and her fingers trembled as they fumbled with the tie.

She had just untied the knot when the man moved his attention to a point over her shoulder.

"You!" he shouted. "Stay where you are. Don't move!"

Rin was tempted to look when she heard several of the villagers gasp, excited, but the man held his sword to her throat now and seemed to be debating whether or not to use her as leverage.

Could it be Lord Sesshomaru? Had he heard her plea?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** _Just want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and support! I haven't PM'ed anyone personally, but I am no less grateful. Here's Chapter 3 posted about a week earlier than I'd originally intended to update. As promised, it is longer than Chapter 2. Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>chapter 3<strong>

But it was not her lord.

Kohaku had grown so much since last she saw him that Rin almost didn't recognize the man in demon slayer garb, straddling a twin-tail remarkably similar to Kirara. His hair was longer, his shoulders broader, and his skin was very tan which successfully hid the boyish freckles that'd once adorned his cheeks. He dismounted with swift ease, and the soldier who'd ordered him not to move snatched Rin up by her hair.

"I'll kill her," he warned.

"Coward!" Kohaku spat. "You would hide behind a woman rather than face me?"

The man's eyes widened, and he seemed to consider her for the first time. He had squinty eyes capped by terribly bushy brows, and his forehead was lined almost as much as Lady Kaede's had been before she passed, though he must have been half her age. Rin thought -hoped and prayed- he would let her go at Kohaku's taunt, but of course he didn't.

"No ordinary woman, is she?" he chuckled. "Very beautiful."

His sudden change of tone had Rin's forehead breaking out in a cold sweat. She had heard stories -always terrible- about things that happened to the girls and women in neighboring villages when samurai passed through. She'd always resigned to die before she let such a thing happen to her, but now the reality terrified her and she realized how naïve she'd been to think those poor women had been given a choice.

"Don't touch her, swine," Kohaku's voice was a commanding snarl.

The soldier roared at being called swine, wrenching Rin's neck to a point far beyond painful as she gasped and twisted to try and relieve the pressure. He thrust his sword high into the air above their heads, and his band of followers began their attack.

The throng of soldiers advancing on her poor village was so thick it reminded her of a swarm of Naraku's demonic insects. What had Edo done to deserve such an attack? War whoops and the screams of villagers rang out in a deafening roar, so it was only because she was pressed against him that Rin could feel the man holding her as he laughed.

White-hot rage filtered through her that he could look on such a scene in amusement, and Rin had just been about to risk her own life to defy him when she felt something hot and sickly splash her face. In the few terrible seconds before she opened her eyes and her hair was released from his grasp, she tried to imagine which of her poor villagers had just been slaughtered.

But it was not a villager.

The man who held her captive stumbled, his face etched in pain and confusion as his hand clutched at the red blossoms sprouting across his chest...

_"Fool," _a low, guttural voice (one she knew well) scoffed.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

Her lord looked so clean amidst the village embroiled in battle. He stood elegant and confident, utterly unfazed by the prospect of bloodshed as he retracted his acid whip. He turned to face her, and Rin thought she saw a flash of relief cross his face before it settled back into its usual mask of indifference.

"Rin. Are you okay?"

"Yes, my lord. Thanks to you. But the village..."

"I'll handle it. Stay out of the battle."

One of the man's soldiers had doubled back and made the very unwise decision to try and attack her lord from behind. She closed her eyes but not before she saw his head begin to slide from his neck and heard the unpleasant 'thunk' a second later.

In the distance she saw Kohaku -busy in battle against two of the man's soldiers- narrow his eyes when they landed on Lord Sesshomaru. But she had little time to question it before she decided to heed her lord and escape the fray.

She fell back in fear at the sheer number of men ransacking the village like fleas on a stray dog. Already, five of them engaged her lord in battle, attempting to avenge their comrades. She'd nearly backed into a hut when she was gripped hard on both shoulders by someone from behind. Rin dug her fingernails into the hands restraining her but quickly let go when she heard a girlish grunt.

She whipped around, "I'm so sorry, Kagome-chan!"

"No, it's okay. I should've said something!" the older girl rubbed at both hands hastily. "Rin, what is happening? Who are these people?" Then she gasped. "Why are you covered in blood?!"

"Don't worry. It's not mine."

"Rin, take the miko and run!" this time it was Kohaku who shouted down at her from his twintail's back. He was soaring above the soldiers' heads and picking them off effortlessly with his chain scythe.

Even as they moved away from the gory battlefield, Rin's heart was overcome with a crippling fear. "Kagome, where is your baby? Where is Inuyasha?!"

"Kyoto is with Sango at our hut. Inuyasha and Miroku left last night to go perform an exorcism near Jinenji's village," she panted, struggling to keep her arrows in their quiver as they jostled with every step.

"Such terrible timing! Lord Sesshomaru warned me that this would happen."

Kagome slowed and gave her a look of surprise, "Lord Sesshomaru? Since when does he keep up with the affairs of our village?"

"I don't know, but he knew this ambush was going to happen. Kagome-chan, without Inuyasha and Miroku here to help..."

"Shh, it'll be okay," Kagome had wrapped the younger girl in a reflexive embrace, but Rin wasn't sure whether the words were meant to soothe _her _or the miko herself.

Either way, she gently disentangled herself from her friend's tight hug. "Come on, let's find Sango."

**-=}{=-**

As it turned out, however, Sango found them first.

"Kagome! Rin, oh thank kami..." the slayer sidled up to them, dressed simply and unobtrusively in a white yukata.

"The children-"

"-are hiding in the hut, where I have a clear vantage point from which to take any threat down," Sango finished for her worried friend. "What is going on?"

"I don't know. I don't know," Kagome's face had paled to a sickly white and -though she waved them around frantically- Rin could tell that her hands were trembling.

"Who are these foreigners?"

And Kagome proceeded to fill the slayer in on everything she knew up until she'd found Rin...

Meanwhile, Rin's eyes tried to find her lord amidst the fray but were unsuccessful, "Lord Sesshomaru," she breathed, closing said eyes and managing a quick, silent prayer.

Just then, a man in bloody armor stumbled upon them and made to alert his comrades, but Sango swiftly dispatched him with an elbow to the face.

"We should move," she said in a low voice, leaning down to inspect the man's body before stepping over it entirely.

**-=}{=-**

"These humans have no quarrel with you," the demon said placidly.

"So then why did you interfere, _Sesshomaru_? It isn't like you to get involved in the affairs of humans," she said his name mockingly and -under normal circumstances- he would've killed her. As it was, however, she was smartly keeping her distance while he remained in battle with her liege of cat devas.

"Toran and I made a pact."

"Toran!" she hissed, "She's the reason we are what we are now, mere shadows of our former selves! It is because of her weakness that we had to surrender to you in the first place, and now she is dead! Even saying her name leaves the taste of shame in my mouth..."

"Hn," Sesshomaru ducked what would've been a kick to the forehead, and rammed his fist through the offending creature's stomach.

Another lunged forward to take the deceased's place and was quickly dispatched as well. Sesshomaru briefly glanced at his own blood-covered arm, the putrid smell of cat blood overwhelming his delicate sense of smell. This battle was turning into a rather messy affair, but the brutality he showed was serving a purpose. He would permanently carve this scene into her pack's mind: the image of their own kin ruthlessly strewn like so much gory tinsel across the ground at his feet. It seemed to be a rather successful tactic as fewer and fewer of them offered to approach the terrifying dog demon.

"Did you really think your pathetic human army would be enough to distract me?" he smirked up at Karan, whose eyes glinted with murderous rage.

"This isn't over, you brat. You may have bested us once, but -rest assured- we will take from you until there is nothing left! That human pet you dote on so unfathomably is next!" and she disappeared in a poof, her deva clan following in her wake with several tiny _pops! _and bursts of smoke.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** _As always, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! __This chapter may not seem like much, but trust me when I say it was a doozy to write. Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>chapter 4<strong>

The attack ended as abruptly as it began. Sango and Kagome took down three more enemies before the men were called back by some unseen force, and Rin could breathe deeply again. That is, until she looked around and saw the damage. Villagers were slumped over one another, crying and seeking comfort. Bodies lay strewn in the road, some belonging to Edo, others to the enemy. Fires sprouted like wildflowers in a field all along Edo's perimeter, many houses smoldering or in ashes already. Men dressed similarly to Kohaku worked frantically to put them out, but the poor village had taken a severe beating. She shuddered to think how much worse it would've been if Lord Sesshomaru and Kohaku hadn't been there, while outright refusing to ponder how much could've been saved if only Inuyasha and Miroku _had_ been...

"Why are they running away? Just a few more minutes and they would've had us."

"No idea," Sango said, slinging hiraikotsu over her shoulder. "We should return to the-"

She let the sentence die on her tongue, however, when all three girls noticed it at the same time. A bright pinprick of light had appeared on the horizon and was growing larger as it fastly approached. Soon enough, it was sailing straight toward them in a brilliant blur. Kagome _'eeped' _and dodged out of its way, but the sphere stopped just inches away from them and dissolved into a very familiar figure.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin rushed to his side.

The demon lord allowed her a brief hug, keeping a firm hand on her back when she tried to pull away.

"My lord?"

"We are leaving. _Now."_

Rin looked up into eyes which were as cold as his tone.

"Who were those people?" Sango asked, but he ignored her.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she tried disentangling herself from him and was laughingly unsuccessful. "My lord, please..."

"Unhand her, demon!"

Kohaku, who'd gone relatively unnoticed from his twintail's back several feet above their heads, dismounted to land deftly beside Rin.

"Kohaku?" Sango asked, surprised. "What are _you _doing here?"

But he only seemed to have eyes for Rin. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"I said release her," Kohaku took an aggressive step forward, but Rin placed a hand to his chest in warning.

"He protected this village."

"Um, excuse me, will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Kagome asked in exasperation.

Surprisingly, it was Sesshomaru who turned to answer her, and Rin couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit snubbed. "They were members of the panther deva tribe. They came to wage war."

Kagome gasped. "But I thought Toran called a truce when you revived her comrades."

"Toran is dead now."

Another gasp. "That's terrible!"

"It matters little. The truce is dissolved."

"But why come after us after all this time? It doesn't make any sense."

Kohaku folded his arms, expression smug. "Do you wanna tell them or should I?"

All eyes turned toward the demon slayer, befuddled, but it was Sesshomaru who spoke first.

"Rin, whatever essentials you require, I suggest you grab them now."

"But-"

He silenced her with a single withering glance.

"Yes, my lord!" Rin didn't relish the idea of leaving Edo during its time of need, but she refused to believe that she was abandoning her home for longer than a day or two.

Once the younger girl was out of earshot, he continued. "Toran wished to become daiyoukai. In order to attain such power, the demon in question must defeat an enemy far superior to his or her own strength, preferrably an enemy who has bested them in the past. Toran came to me requesting a duel, but I declined as pointless battles no longer interest me."

"And?" Kagome prodded. "Then what?"

"She was humiliated and became enraged. She attacked me like a coward when my back was turned. I defeated her easily, of course, but she begged me to finish it and end her life. She did not want to return to her clan and face the shame of having failed them."

"Did you? Kill her, I mean."

"Of course not. I walked away," he continued, his blank mask crumbling ever so slightly when his brow furrowed, "but Toran committed seppuku."

Kagome looked like she was going to be sick. "That's so barbaric! All this because you wouldn't fight her to the death? She had to have known she was going to lose anyway."

"You don't understand. He didn't just disgrace Toran; he disgraced the entire panther deva tribe by refusing to even recognize her as a worthy opponent. At least if she'd perished during battle, it would've been an honorable death. What's the matter Sesshomaru? Afraid you were going to lose your own precious title?" Kohaku taunted.

"Don't be a fool. Toran would've lost miserably," the demon said.

"I guess we'll never know. Toran's dead now, and your damn pride has cost entire villages their lives."

Kagome's mouth gaped. "You mean they've attacked other villages besides Edo?"

Kohaku gave a dry, humorless laugh. "All along the West it's a wasteland. Entire bloodlines have been wiped out, families slaughtered needlessly, their homes ransacked and burned to the ground. And that's not all. The cats have been recruiting armies of the lowest, most vicious samurai they can find. My men and I help whenever and wherever we can, but their numbers are multiplying faster than we can keep up."

"Then we have to do something," Sango and Kagome said in unison.

"No," Sesshomaru spoke sharply. "You will not interfere."

"But-"

"They took Jaken and AhUn, and they have threatened Rin's life as well."

"Unbelievable," Kohaku scoffed. "When are you going to accept help cleaning up your own mess and stop hiding behind the blood of defenseless villagers? _I_ can take Rin and-" but he never got a chance to finish as Sesshomaru advanced before anybody had a chance to intervene and wrapped a large hand around the younger man's throat, hoisting him into the air.

"Rin is coming with me, and you will not interfere."

Sango placed a hand on his striped wrist. "Lord Sesshomaru, please..."

"Don't beg for me, Sango," Kohaku growled, cheeks flushing pink with indignation as he attempted to pry the demon's fingers loose from his throat.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin had returned with a small bundle of clothes and was shocked to see that her lord had Kohaku by the throat.

At the sound of her voice, the demon regained himself long enough to drop the slayer and step away.

Sango moved to help him up, but he brushed her aside in annoyance. "This isn't finished!" he shouted at Sesshomaru's back.

Rin rushed over and tenderly touched his face. "Kohaku-chan, are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm sorry if that upset you," he apologized quietly.

"Rin, let's be going." The demon glanced at them over his shoulder, his tone doing nothing to hide his mounting annoyance.

"I guess I should be going," she quickly hugged Kagome and Sango and made to do the same with Kohaku, who held onto her a little longer.

"I'm never far away," he whispered into her hair.

"Rrrin."

"Coming, Sesshomaru-sama!"

**-=}{=-**

Rin didn't know how long they'd been walking, but -without AhUn's broad back to offer any respite- the soles of her feet did a very good job of reminding her that it'd been awhile.

Her lord walked beside her. Not in front of or behind, and it was both comforting yet not in its unfamiliarity. Perhaps, it wouldn't have been so bad if only her lord would speak, but he seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts and Rin wasn't inclined to interrupt. However, the hour soon came and went when the sun had ducked below the horizon and a chill swept over them.

"My lord, shouldn't we make camp?"

No answer.

They continued in the vein of silence for several more minutes before she huffed in annoyance, making the rather bold decision to stop.

"Rin, let's go."

"No."

The demon glanced at the girl in a mixture of surprise and agitation. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm not walking another step until you explain everything to me."

"Rin-"

"You came to _my_ village and uprooted _my_ life. You won't tell me what's become of Master Jaken and AhUn, and then you attack one of my friends. What is going on?! I've tried to be patient, but Lord Sesshomaru please...I _need_ answers."

Sesshomaru turned to regard her. "Just when did you become so stubborn?"

"I've had lots of practice," she said, folding her arms for emphasis.

He sighed. "We'll make camp here and I...will tell you everything you wish to know."

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><p><strong>AN:** _For those who are wondering/may not know:_

**Seppuku-**_a form of_ _ceremonial suicide formerly performed in Japan by members of the warrior class when disgraced; it was commonly done by eviscerating one's own stomach with a dagger or falling upon one's own sword._

_Questions? Comments?_


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